1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to hearing aids for the hearing impaired, and particularly to hearing aids of the class adapted to be utilized in connection with a telephone receiver.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
A preliminary patentability search in class 379, subclass 52 produced the following patents: Lavery, U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,834, issued May 29, 1951; McGee, U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,607, issued June 3, 1958; and Flygstad, U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,245, issued Aug. 6, 1968. While each of the above patents disclose various hearing aid apparatus for use with telephone receivers, none disclose or suggest the present invention. More specifically, none of the above patents disclose or suggest a telephone headset for the hearing impaired with a single input means against which the telephone receiver may be placed, with separate volume controls for each ear, which permits the user to hear the conversation from a telephone receiver with both ears.
Lavery, U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,834, describes a coupling for a telephone receiver in which a hearing aid device, inductively coupled to the telephone receiver, amplifies the conversation for receipt by an ear of the user. Lavery has no headset, as does the present invention, and does not allow the conversation to be heard by the user through both ears. Additionally, Lavery teaches against the use of acoustic pickup means, such as a microphone, which may be used in accordance with the present invention.
McGee, U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,607, describes a pair of hearing aid devices for use with a telephone receiver in which the receiver is held between two inductive pickup devices, each on a separate hearing aid. Volume is balanced between the two hearing aids by placing the telephone receiver closer to one inductive pickup than the other. The present invention does not require that the receiver be held between a pair of inductive pickups, but instead has one input means for the telephone receiver to be placed thereagainst, and the conversation picked up by the single input means is transmitted to both ear pieces. Unlike the McGee patent, the present invention has a main volume control as well as a separate volume control for each ear piece and is constructed as a headset, to be worn on the head of the hearing impaired user.
Flygstad, U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,245, describes a hearing aid device for use with a telephone receiver in which a magnetic switching means (a "magnetic reed switch") detects the presence of the telephone receiver and switches the device automatically from a normal mode of operation into a telephonic mode in which the telephone receiver is inductively coupled to the hearing aid. Flygstad does not show or describe the use of a headset in the manner prescribed by the current invention.